Swimming appliance.



W. A. GLAZIER. SWIMMING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15. 1909.

Patentd-Nov. 23, 1909.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. GLAZIER, OF ETOWAI-I, TENNESSEE.

SWIMMING APPLIANCE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. GLAZIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Etowah, in the county of McMinn and State of Tennessee, have invented new and useful Improvements in Swimming Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to produce a swimming appliance that will enable a swimmer using it to propel himself through the water more rapidly than. he could with natures equipment only. It is so constructed that when the stroke is begun, wings or flaps are opened to their full extent by pressure against the water, and when r the return stroke is begun the pressure, now

exerted on the other side of the flaps, closes them so that very little resistance is encountered during the return stroke. The device is preferably made of a light but rigid material, such as aluminum, or an aluminum compound.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the appliance above. Fig. 2 is an end view. Fig. 8 is an edge view.

The device consists of a handle or grip piece, A, and wings or flaps B, B, hinged to it and limited in their opening and closing movements.

The handle A has anopening 1 through it, shaped to comfortably fit the hand, and below which is the cross piece 2 that is grasped by the swimmer, while above or opposite the back of the hand is the cross piece 2. The wings B, B are hinged to the handle by rivets or pivot pins 3 which pass through connecting lugs 4 and 5 on the handle and wings, respectively. The upper cross piece 2 of the handle, is extended to form lugs 6 which limit the extent to which the wings B, B may open, and the other cross piece 2 is also extended to form lugs 7 that limit the extent to which the wings may fold together, being arranged so that when the appliance is carried forward through the water, closing or folding the wings, they are held slightly open or spread, so that the moment the back stroke is begun,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented N 23, 19()9 Application filed. June 15, 1909.

Serial No. 502,246.

the wings, being already open very slightly, are immediately caught by the water and opened to their fullest extent by the pressure of the water against their rear faces. In Fig. 2 I have represented in dotted outline, the position occupied by the wings when folded against lugs 7, as on the return stroke. 7

The wings B, B are preferably made with their front faces either flator slightly convex, but their other faces are preferably decidedly concave as shown in Fig. 2.

A swimming appliance such as herein shown and described is simple in construction and compact, the flaps or wings being pivoted close to the hand, and directly to the handle A, the ends of which are recessed to form pivot seats for the wings, on either side of which are the stops or lugs that limit their movements.

WVhat I claim is 1. A swimming device comprising a handle provided with an opening through which may be passed the hand, having a cross piece to be grasped, below the opening, a pair of wings pivoted to the ends of the handle, and means to limit the extent to which the wings may be moved about their pivots, substantially as set forth.

2. A swimming device comprising a handle to be grasped by the swimmer, having its ends recessed, and formed with stops or lugs on either side of the recesses, and wings pivoted in the recesses between the said lugs, the latter serving to limit the extent to which the wings may open and close, substantially as set forth.

3. A swimming device consisting of a handle having a central opening through which the hand may be passed, the bars above and below the opening being extended at either end of the handle to form lugs, and wings pivoted between the said lugs, substantially as set forth.

\VILLIAM A. GLAZIER.

WVitnesses H. KIMHoUeH, P. A. KINsER. 

